;6o 



NA TURE 



[February 13, 190S 



of Aryabhata's " Ganita," and a comment tltercon. These 

 are prefaced by brief notes which explain the position 

 occupied by Aryabhata in the history of mathematics. 

 The point of view of the writer differs from that of those 

 who have previously treated the subject in that he Holds 

 ihat it is beyond all doubt that Aryabhata's work owes its 

 origin to the Alexandrian school of mathematicians. 

 Aryabhata does not claim to be the discoverer of the rules 

 he gives, and it is thought that the " Ganita " was in- 

 tended by him to be supplementary to the mathematical 

 knowledge of the Hindus of his time. The " Ganita " is 

 examined in close detail, and abundantly confirms this hypo- 

 thesis. , The claims that have been made for Aryabhata — 

 Ihat he was the inventor of our modern system of arith- 

 metical notation ; that he discovered a more accurate value 

 (or TT than any of his predecessors ; that he was the first to 

 .^ive a systematic solution for indeterminate equations of 

 the first degree — are shown to be unsound {see also 

 p. 347). — Studies in experimental breeding of the Indian 

 cottons : an introductory note : H. Martin Leake. Breed- 

 ing experiments have been undertaken at Cawnpur, and 

 the third ijeneration has now been reached. As a result of 

 numerous measurements of the leaf it has been found that 

 if narrow-Iobed and broad-lobed leaved plants be crossed, 

 the proportions of the leaves in the first generation (Fi) 

 approximate remarkably to the arithmetic mean of those 

 of the two parents, and this appears to be true for all 

 crosses, whether they be made between the extreme forms 

 of Gossypiiim neglecliim or between such divergent types 

 as G. arboreum and G. hcrbaceum. In the F2 generation 

 of crosses, plants with typical broad and with typical 

 narrow-lobed leaves appear, just as ascertained laws of 

 heredity teach us to expect. From the way in which 

 intermediates such as have been artificially raised occur 

 naturally in the fields of the United Provinces of Agra 

 and Oudh, it is apparent that cross-fertilisation is common. 

 Further, in illustration it is cited that a packet of seed of 

 G. arboreum taken without precautions yielded two out 

 of fourteen plants the parentage of which was obviously 

 impure, and which therefore stand as evidences of natural 

 cross-fertilisation of G. arboreum by some other species 

 of Gossypium. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



r/rURSDAV, FKnRCAKV 13. 



Rov.^l. Society, at 4,0.— The Constitution of the Electric .Spark: 

 r. Royds.— On the neterminatim of Viscosity at Hieh Temperatures : 

 IJr. C. B. Fawsitt.-The Effect of Hydrogen on the DischafKe of Neea- 

 tive Electricity from Hot Plalinum : Prof. H. A. Wilson. K.R.S— The 

 Decomposition of Ozone by Heat : Dr. E. P. Perman and R. H. Greaves. 



Royal Society of Arts, at 4.30.— 'Ihe New Imperial Gazetteer of India: 



■ Algebraic Equatii 



■ Hniform Appioai 



I I iscn.stein's Law 

 il inial Representa- 

 I.. Cunningham. 



R. Hu: 

 M \i HEMATICAL SociETV, at 5.30. — Proof that 



hns a Root: Dr. H. A. de S. Pittar.l— i 



of a Continuous Function to its Limit: I'l 



(/•differences: Rev. F. H. Jackson.— .An ] n 



of Reciprocity (Second Paper): A, E. West, i 



tion and the Transformation of Laplace's Equ. 



FRIDAY, FEBKUARY14. 

 Royal Institution, at g.— Biology and History : Dr. C. W. .Saleeby. 

 Royal Astronomical Society, at s. — Anniversary Meeting. 

 Physical Society, at 8. 

 Malacological Society, at 8. — Annual Meeting.— President's .\ddress : 



-Malacology versjts Pal^oconcholbgy : .B. E. Woodward. 

 MONDA V, Februakv 17. 

 Royal Society OF Arts, at 8.— The Theory and Practice of Clock Making : 



H. H. Cunynghame, CIS. 

 Victoria In.stitute, at 4.30.— Philosophy and Evolution : Prof. H. L. 



Orchard. 



TUESDAY, February 18. 

 Royal In.stitution. at 3.— Membranes : Thtir Structure, Uses and 



Products : Prof William Stirling. 

 Zoological Society, at 8.30. 

 KnvAL Statistical Society, at 5. 

 I'siiTUTiON OF Civil Engineers, at 8.— Shaft-sinking at the Horden 



Colliery, South-east Durham : J. J. Prest.— The New York Rapid-transit 



Subway : W. B. Parsons. 



WEDNESDAY, February 19. 

 Geological Society, at 8.— Notes on the Riyer Wey : H. Bury. 

 Royal Microscopical Society at 8. — Eye-pieces for the Microscope : 



E. M. Nelson.— The Life-hi.story of a' New Protophyte : Rev. Eustace 

 Tozer— On Dimorphism in the Recent Foramlnifer Alveolina i'oscii: 



F. Chapman.— .£.i7(/(S;^i : Slides illustrating the Life-history of some 

 Diptera: C. L. Curties.— An Imp-oved Mercury-Vapour Lamp : J. E. 

 Barnard. 



Royal Meteorological Society, at 7.30.— Formation of Snow Rollers:- 

 C. Browetl.- Comparison of Ship's Barometer Readings with Those 

 Deduced from Land Observations : E. Gold. 



NO. 1998, VOL. 77] 



THURSDAY. February 20. 



Royal Society, at ^.-^o.— ProiaHe Papers .-—Notes on the Application 

 of Low Temperatures to some Chemical Problems, (i) Use of Charco-il 

 in Vapour Density Determination. (2) Rotatory Power of Organic Sub- 

 stances : Sir James Dew.-ir, F.R S.. and Dr. H. O. Jones.— On the 

 Osmotic Pressure of Compressible Solutions of any Degree of Concentra- 

 tion. Part II. Cases in which both Solvent and Solute are Volatile: 

 \. W. Porter.— Effects of .>-elfindiiction in an Iron Cylinder when 

 traversed by Alternating Currents : Prof. Ernest Wilson. 



Royal Institution, at 3. — Wood : its Botanical and Technical .Aspects : 

 Prof. W. Somerville. 



Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, at 8. 



Linnean Society, at 8.— Experiments w.th Wild Species of Tuber-.bearing 

 Solanums : 'A. W. Sutton.— The I.ife-history and Larval Habits ol 

 Tiger Beetles (Cicindela:): Dr. V. E. Shelford.— On a Possible Case of 

 Mimicry in the Common Sole: Dr. A. T. Masterman. -Exhibit : Stereo- 

 scopic Photographs of Alpine Plants in Natural Colours : T. Ernest 

 Waltham. 



Insiitution of Electrical Engineers, at 8. — Electrical Power in Rail- 

 way Goods Warehouses : H. Henderson. — Electric Power in Docks : 



C. E. Taylor. 



Chemical Society, at S.30.— The Action of Thionyl Chloride and of 

 Piiosphorus Pentachloride on the Methylene Ethers of Pyrocatechol 

 Derivatives: G. Barger. — The Preparation of Conductivity Water: H. 

 Hartley, N. P. Campbell and K. H. Poole.— Derivatives of /*«)-r«-Diazo- 

 iminobenzene : G. T. Morgan and Miss F. M. G. Micklethwait.— A Study 

 ot the Diaz r-reaction in the Diphenyl Series: G. T. Morgan and Miss 

 V. M. G. Micklethwait.— Org.-inic Derivatives of Silicon. Part VI. The 

 Optically Active Sulphobenzylethylpropylsilicyl Oxides ; F. S. Kipping. 

 —A Simple Manometer for Vacuum Distillation : N. L. Gebhard. 

 FRIDAY, February 21. 



Royal In.stitution, at 9.— The Ether of Space : Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S. 



Institution of Mechanical Engineers, at 8. — Annual Meeting.— 

 Tests of a Live Steam Feed-water Heater : Prof. J. Goodman and 



D. B. MacLachlan. 



CONTENT.^. PAGK 



Is Mars Habitable? liy Dr. William J. S. Lockyer 337 



Agrict'ltur- in France ... 339 



Chemistry in the Seventeenth Century. By W. A. D 531) 



Town Gas 340 



Our Book Shelf: — 



Dudeney : "The Canleibury PuzzlfS and other 



Curious Problems" 341 



Allan: "Matter and Intellect: A Reconciliation of 



Scienc^and the Bible " 341 



Brillouin " Lemons sur la Visco^iie des Liquides ct des 



Gaz" 341 



Huxley: " Aphorisms and Reflections" 341 



Letters to the Editor — 



The Inheiitance of " Acquired " Characters. — Dr. G. 



Archd»ll Reid ; Rev. E. C. Spicer ; A. D. D . 342 

 Ainiospheric Ekctiicilv and Fog. — Dr. Charles 



Chree, F.R.S . ' :!43 



The Penetrating Radiation.— W. W. Strong . . , 343 

 Classification of Secondary X-Radiators. — Dr. C. G. 



Barkia and C. A. Sadler 343 



Auroral Characteristics of Clouds. — George C. 



Simpson .... . 344 



Reissner's Fibre in the Frog. — George E. Nicholls 344 

 Rhyiiihobdella anih-nta in Ce>lon. — Cr. Arthur 



Willey, F.R.o 345 



Poseidonius on the Oiiginator of the Theory of .Atonif. 



—Dr. T. J. J. See 34S 



Agiicultuial and Horticultural Research, [llliis- 



Iratfd.) By R. N 345 



The Geology of the Transvaal. {lllustniU.l.) By 



Dr. F. H. Hatch . . 3j6 



The History of Arithmetical Notation. By G. B. M. 347 



Prof. J. B. Pettigrew, F.R.S. By W. C. M ... 34-i 

 W. A. Shenstone, F.R.S. By Prof. William. A 



Tilden, F.R.S 348 



Notes 349 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Occultations of Uranus in igoS 353 



Ol'servations of Couitis 1907(1' and I907f 353 



Plant ts now Visible 353 



Encke's Comer, igoSi; 353 



K Caialogue of Zodiacal Slars . . 353 



Meteors observed on lanuary 2 353 



The Winds of Northern India. By E. G . ... 353 



Medical Inspection in London ^55' 



Theory of the Mirage. (Illinlmlcd.) By G. H. B . 356 



A Contribution to the History of Ironclads .... 356 



The Smithsonian Institution 357 



University and Educational Intelligence 3S7 



Societies and Academief 3.iS 



Diary of Societies 360' 



